Exhaust-gas heater for automobiles



APPLICATION FILED APR. 16 I917.

Patented May 4, 1920.

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F. L. MONTROSS.

EXHAUST GAS HEATER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. i6, 19!?- 1,339,122.

' PatentediMay 4, 1920.

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FREDERICK L. MONTROSS, OF C AMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 HIMSELF AND ONE-HALF T0 HARRY A. MONTROS S, 0F CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mayel, 1920.

Application filed April 16, 1917. Serial No. 162,359.

To all whom it may concern.

.Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. *MON- TROSS, a'citizen of the United States, residing at 815 N. 2nd street, Camden, in the county of Camden and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful haust-Gas Heater for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to utilize .the exhaust gases from an automobile engine for water heating purposes.

further purpose ofmy invention is to interrupt the exhaust gas from an automobile engine inits passage through a heater by a conical shaped spirally wound heat element in contactwith the casing.

A furtherpurpose of my invention is to use the exhaust gases from an automobile for heating theearby heatinga casing, preferably a water container, having either direct or indirect connection with the body of the car.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and claims hereof.

I have preferred to illustrate my invention by but two of the many constructions by which it may be carried out, selecting ones which are practical, efficient and inexpensive and which at the same time well illustrate the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automobile showing the preferred relative location of parts for heating the water supply of a washing cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a broken longitudinal section of parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of heater.

Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section parallel to the section of Fig. 2, showing the cabinet seen in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a broken section upon line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a broken vertical section showing another form of utilizing my invention.

Similar numerals indicate corresponding parts.

The exhaust pipe 1 from the motor of the automobile 2 is terminated within a cup 3 from which the gases may find egress about the open annular space 4, with sufficient freedom to prevent injurious throttling of the exhaust. At the same time their impetus in the direction of the arrow 5 tends to cause themto traverse the pipe 6 when the valve 7 is open. As a result part of the ex haust flows through theheater 8 and finds final outlet through the pipe 9.

The heater 8 may be variouslyutilized as more particularly seen inFigs. l and 6, so as to transmit the heat to the best advantage throughout the water to beheated,,as,in the intended usesof the heaters. in Figs. 1 and 4, or to heat the car, or forothen uses. The cabinet 10 is shown as havingt two water compartments 11 and 12, the latter of which only is heated. Theheater 8 isshown as above the floor 13 within the compartment 12, in which position it ismuchamore effective thanit would be in an outside position. The inlet valve 7 and the, exhaust terminal are, both placed outside the compartment. I a

The front of the cabinet 10 carries a basin 14 hinged to the lower front of the cabinet at 15 and contains the faucets for drawing the water from the two compartments;

which faucets it has not been considered necessary to illustrate.

The efliciency of my heater 8 is very much improved by the use of a spirally wound strip 16 whose surface is canted during the winding, 0., the right edge 17, for exam ple, extending a considerable distance nearer to the axial line of the cylinder than the left hand edge 18, by reason of which the gases are caught by what might be considered as a spiral frusto conical surface presented and, entering from the narrow end, are caught and somewhat trapped between this spiraled strip and the inner surface of the heater there shown.

Two constructions of the heater are illustrated, one oflering advantage in simplicity, the other in accessibility.

In Fig. 2 the spiraled frusto-conical strip winding 16 is rigidly secured to the interior of the cylinder, giving excellent, maintained thermal engagement between this strip and the cylinder, greatly improving the thermal conductivity of the entire heater as a unit and permitting simpler construction of some of the other parts than .would otherwise be feasible. The heads '19 and 20 are removable for accessibility and the head 19 is shown as carrying a perforated screen or plate 21 and ipe 9.

In the form 0 Fig. 3, the spiraled frustoconical strip is removable from the casing of heater 8 along with one of the heads, as 19, for the purpose of securin additional accessibility for cleanliness. t, however,

loses the substantial integrality of the spiral and casing cylinder in Fig. 2, so effective in quick interchange of thermal units between them.

In the form shown in Fig. 6, an indirect heating unit for the car is illustrated in which a heater 8 is located below the car body and heats the body by indirect heating. The air may here come in direct contact with the heater or may be heated by a water content surrounding the heater, as preferred. The heated air passes through a perforated plate or register 22 into the car. The valve 7 is controlled from the car body by any suitable rod 23.

It will be evident that the heater 8 will be a primary heater in Fig. 6 if the air heated comes directly in contact with it, or if a surrounding water content causes the Water to heat the air through the casing therefor. In the first case there will be no secondary heater, but in the second case the water and. its casing will constitute a secondary heater for the air.

It will be evident that the cup 3 may be 7 any suitable mufiier or may be connected with an existing mufllen'such as 24, as pre 7 2. A heating element for an exhaust gas heater comprising a cylindrical casing heads therefor having inlet and outlet gas connections and a spirally-wound heat "conducting element of generally truncated conical form having the end of smaller diameter toward the inlet connection.

3. In a heating element for exhaust gas use, an outer casing, and a conducting strip within the casing extending about its interior and progressing from one end toward the other and having one edge of the strip nearer the longitudinal center line of the casing than the other edge thereof, the space within the strip beingtopen.

Witness:

WM. STEELL JACKSON. 7 

